Monday, June 27, 2011

Apricotastic

By far, apricot preserves are my absolute favorite. As I dip my spoon into each luscious jar, it's like eating silky globs of sunshine. I think I've mentioned before that I'm not much of a fan of the apricot in its raw state. Too mealy. But boy, oh boy, when it's cooked up and smushed up with heaps and heaps of sugar, heaven awaits on the tip of every bite.

Some folks use pectin in their apricot jam and I can't quite figure out why, unless they're looking for something more akin to Jello. One of the greatest attributes of the apricot is that it gets to the perfect consistency without any other ingredients aside from sugar. And the fact that the apricot is a breeze to pit makes this fruit all the more appealing for putting up.

As I mentioned in my last post, I am branching out into adventurous tongue-tickling territories. To mess with my most beloved took some bravery on my part. But I pressed forth, exploring worlds yet unknown to my palate. I am more than ecstatic with the results as I believe I may have perfected perfection with this round of jamming.

Apricot Tangelo Jam

This jam turned out much like my standard apricot jam in which I usually use an orange. I substituted a tangelo, because it was what I had on hand, without out any significant alteration to the flavor.

2.5 lbs. apricots
3 cups sugar
Juice and zest of 1 tangelo

Apricot Grapefruit Jam

This was it. This was the ultimate taste accentuation I have been looking for in an apricot jam, even though I had no idea that I was ever looking for it in the first place. I had a couple grapefruits on the counter that were starting to pucker up like the mouth of an old man who had lost his teeth. Maybe they weren't that bad, but they were certainly acquiring a few wrinkles. The slight revision with a more bitter, yet still sweet, citrus took this already perfect preserve into another stratosphere. From now on, this will be my standard apricot jam that I make each year.

2.5 lbs. apricots
3 cups sugar
Juice and zest of 1 ruby grapefruit

Apricot Ginger Jam

I hate to say it, but I think this one might be as good as the apricot grapefruit. I had my doubts, fearing that the ginger would be overwhelming. How wrong was I? Even the husband thought it was fantastic and he doesn't care that much for ginger. I can't wait to slather it on some homemade scones.

OMG, I am such an apricot jam whore! And I don't like them in their raw state either. But alas, we didn't get very many on our tree this year (thanks to the late rains) so undoubtedly Tom will eat them all raw before I can make any jam. So I'm sad. :(

Apricot jam is THE jam of South Africa. The one we use in cooking, baking, on sandwiches, etc. So I miss it a lot as the quality of apricot jam in the UK is not good.

I made my own last weekend and managed to turn out a product that was as good as what we used to buy back home. I know it sounds wrong to compare a home-made jam to a commercial jam but those jams were good...

I made it extra smooth (as per the commercial product) by cooking the fruit down in a little bit of water, then working it through a sieve before continuing. We need the smoother texture to allow for use in baking and cooking.

The one alternative to plain apricot jam I have tried and loved was where it was combined with slivered almonds...sadly I could not find almonds or I would have done this too last weekend.

I taught a canning class this weekend where we made 36 half pints of apricot jam (with orange zest for that special zing). I also tried canning apricot halves in a honey syrup but half the liquid seeped out during the processing. Better luck next time, I hope.

Okay, so I am really new to canning. I bought some apricots at the local market here in Germany, and tried your apricot ginger version. BEST JAM EVER! Thanks for posting this! I am happy to say that this jam was my first successful canning experience.